Catholic Groups Pledge to Make Church’s Voice Heard at Climate Conference | earth beat

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Warsaw, Poland – As government delegations around the world prepare for a United Nations climate change conference from December 2-14, Catholic organizations pledge to make the voice of the Church heard.

CIDSE, a network of 17 Catholic development agencies from Europe and North America based in Brussels, joined other Catholic aid organizations in Katowice, Poland, for the 24th UN Conference on climate change, which was to propose measures to limit temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius. .

“Over the past year there have been fears of a loss of energy – this ambition and commitment is deflated by the scale of the tasks ahead,” said Josianne Gauthier, CIDSE Secretary General. “But we have been called upon by the world’s most vulnerable countries to make the bold changes needed to limit global warming – not by seeking the lowest common denominator, but by joining in courageous action.”

The Canadian Catholic told the Catholic News Service Nov. 26 that Catholic activists would pressure the conference to maintain a “comprehensive rights approach to climate change,” rather than simply focusing on “technical issues.”

Adriana Opromolla, head of international advocacy for Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based federation of 164 Catholic charities, said Catholic groups “want an open and transparent dialogue about the global common good, not just a concern for the interests of certain country”.

“While governments must comply with global emission reduction targets, actors below the government level can also have a major impact with a shared vision to reverse current trends,” Opromolla said. “What absolutely cannot happen is that we carry on as if nothing has happened.”

“We have seen a growing interest in the Catholic Church as a moral leader and globally recognized authority, so I have no doubt that her voice will be heard,” she said.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, and Cardinal Peter Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, will lead a delegation from the Holy See.

In an October 26 statement, church leaders from five continents called for the conference to be “an important step on the path charted in 2015,” encouraging “urgency, intergenerational justice, human dignity and human rights”.

They added that Pope Francis had demanded “swift and radical changes” in his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’, on the care of our common home”. They called on high-carbon countries to “take political responsibility and meet their climate finance commitments”.

The statement says the Catholic Church around the world is now supporting a “shift towards more sustainable communities and lifestyles”, including divestment from fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy, and “rethinking the agricultural sector” to promote agro-ecology.

“We must resist the temptation to seek solutions to our current situation in short-term technological solutions without addressing the root causes and long-term consequences,” said the signatories, including Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, President of the Federation of Asian Episcopal Conferences and Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez of Bogotá, Colombia, President of the Latin American Episcopal Council. Their counterparts from Europe, Africa and Oceania also signed the letter.

The bishops’ statement was welcomed as a “strong indication” of global Catholic commitment to climate justice by Tomas Insua, director of the Boston-based Global Catholic Climate Movement, who said he counted on political leaders to “rise to the challenge” when “every notch of the global thermometer is a tragedy for the most vulnerable.”

Gauthier also hailed the statement’s support for “profound societal change,” adding that Catholic experts would work with representatives of other religions in Katowice to “raise noise and instill hope” around the common goals of ” justice, dignity and protection of creation”.

“I think there is a thirst for a different kind of discourse now, something less technical and with a more human face. This is where churches and faith communities can offer vital help,” said she added.

A statement on the UN’s website said the main purpose of the conference would be to adopt implementation guidelines for the 1.5 degree limit adopted under the Paris Agreement on the 2015 climate change.

He added that the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had recently warned that net carbon dioxide emissions had to reach zero by 2050 to meet the Paris target, thus reducing “the risks to human well-being, ecosystems and sustainable development”.

In a November 22 report, the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization said levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, had reached a new record, leading to sea level rise, ocean acidification and more extreme effects. weather, with “no sign of a trend reversal”.

A separate November 27 emissions report from the United Nations Environment Program tracked countries’ political commitments to cut emissions and said these were lagging behind official targets.

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